Night Raid, Kill the Bandits
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Night Raid Hideout
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Inside of a hill or mountain we see a stone building that is Night Raid’s Hideout. It has been about a day since Naruto arrived here and he is waiting for Jiraiya to contact him or something since he most likely went ahead of schedule for meeting clients. Naruto sighs as he looks from a window seeing Tatsumi digging graves for Sayo and Ieyasu. Naruto really felt bad for Tatsumi, but even he knows it would be wrong to interrupt this.
“You, okay?” Naruto turns to see Leone talking to him.
“I wish I could say something that would help Tatsumi.” Naruto says.
“Didn’t you also have people important to you die as well?” Leone asks with a raised eyebrow.
“I did, but those were under very different situations.” Naruto says remembering Haku and the Third Hokage. It was hard to classify Haku, as while they were friendly to each other for a short period of time they became enemies when they met again. And while the Third Hokage was an important figure in his life he learned that a Hokage has many things important things to protect and is willing to sacrifice his life if need be. So, while Naruto also had people important to him die, he honestly can’t relate to Tatsumi well.
“I see.” Leone begins to say. “Sorry for sounding insensitive. It’s just everyone here has lost someone important to them at one point or another, so I just assumed we all have similar feelings.”
“I get it. You’re just looking out for us.” Naruto says.
“Yep. So ready to officially meet your new comrades?” Leone asks as Naruto nods his head.
After moving around the base for a bit Naruto sees a slender-yet-curvaceous young woman of 5 feet 3 inches with long, purple hair and eyes. She usually wore a revealing, sleeveless lilac cheongsam with detached lilac arm sleeves and white boots. She also wears glasses and had a scar on her right cheek. “Leone who is that?” The purple haired woman asked.
“Hi Sheele, this is Naruto, and he is one of our new comrades.” Leone says happily.
“It’s nice to meet you Sheele.” Naruto says to the now identified Sheele extending his hand for a handshake.
Sheele shakes his hand. “It’s nice to meet you as well Naruto.” Sheele begins to say. “It’s a good thing you decided to join us. If you didn’t join us, you probably would’ve been killed since you know the location of our hideout.” She says causally before sitting down at a table.
“Um Leone, is that normal?” Naruto asks not sure what to make of Sheele saying a threat like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Don’t worry, Sheele has her way of doing things. She doesn’t mean anything bad.” Leone says.
Naruto then notices Sheele opening a book. ‘100 ways to cure being an airhead? She is certainly unique.’ Naruto thinks.
“Hey! Wait a second, Leone!” Naruto and Leone turn to see the pink haired girl he met last night. “Why are you showing this guy around our hideout?” The pink haired girl asks pointing towards Naruto.
“‘Cause he’s one of us now.” Leone says to her friend.
“I don’t recall agreeing to that. He hasn’t gotten to boss’s permission either.” The pink haired girl moves forward for a bit.
“I’m Naruto Uzumaki, it’s nice to meet you.” Naruto says extending his hand for a handshake. He then sees the pink haired girl looking at him critically, which is honestly making him a little uncomfortable.
“Nope. Not qualified. You fail.” The pink haired girl turns around with her arms crossed ignoring the handshake. “There’s no way you could work with professionals like us. Not with a face like that.” She says the last part with arrogance.
“What’s your problem!?” Naruto says with slight anger making the extended hand into a fist.
“Don’t take it to heart. Mine’s like that everyone.” Leone says.
“Hmph.” The now identified Mine turns her head away.
Naruto and Leone move to a new area of the hideout after the meeting with Sheele and Mine. This area is a more outdoor section of the hideout that strangely looks like something he would normally see back home.
“Over here we have the training grounds. It’s a good place to release some stress.” Leone begins explaining before pointing in a different direction. “And that guy over there who’s probably reeking of sweat right now is Bulat.”
Naruto looks to see a yelling guy that Leone called Bulat. Bulat is a young man of 6 feet 3 inches wearing white pants and black boots. He has blue eyes and black hair in a hairstyle he is unfamiliar with (combed up, heart-shaped pompadour). Bulat is currently shirtless, but this shows his muscular frame. ‘That guy is awesome.’ While Naruto is no expert on the use of weapons even, he can tell that Bulat is a very skilled individual from the way he is swinging that wooden staff. ‘He seems familiar for some reason.’ Naruto thinks.
“Pheww.” Bulat stops training by putting the wooden staff into the ground and turns to see Naruto and Leone. “Hey Leone! And you must be one of the dudes from yesterday.” Bulat says.
That’s when Naruto figures it out. “Wait a second, you're the guy that was in the armor.” Naruto says after recognizing Bulat’s voice.
“Oh, you could tell?” Bulat asks with Leone raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, your voice and your height now that I think about it.” Naruto tells him.
“True enough.” Bulat begins to say extending his hand towards Naruto for a handshake. “The name’s Bulat. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Naruto Uzumaki. It’s nice to meet you too.” Naruto says accepting the handshake.
“Be careful, this guy is gay.” Leone says teasingly.
“Hey now. Don’t give him the wrong idea. Okay?” Bulat says with slightly red cheeks, while Naruto just raises an eyebrow at Bulat’s reaction and Leone’s attempt at teasing before continuing to a more forest-based area.
“So how are you liking your new comrades so far Naruto?” Leone asks.
“Sheele seems nice, Mine might be a little difficult to work with at first, Bulat seems pretty cool, I would like to train with him some at one point.” Naruto says.
“Glad you like the team so far.” Leone says. “Though your reaction to Bulat was certainly a first.”
“Why? You mentioned something about Bulat being gay, but what does that have to do with anything?” Naruto asks not understanding what she means.
“Never mind then.” Leone says plainly but is thinking about how amusing things will be in the future before continuing to the next destination.
“Okay.” Naruto says before hearing a giggling sound that he became very familiar with over the course of training with Jiraiya. ‘You have got to be kidding me.’ Naruto thinks as they approach the next destination.
“It’s almost Leone’s bathing time! “If it’s to see those breasts, I’ll brave any danger!” A green haired says standing up in determination.
“Then…” Leone starts to say with no emotion as the green haired male starts getting scared. “How about I break one of your fingers.” She says as we hear something breaking as the green haired male screams in pain as he is thrown to the ground and is being stepped on by Leone. “You never learn, Lubb.” Leone says.
“Fuck! This won’t stop me!” The identified Lubb said.
“Then it’s your arm will be used as a warning.” Leone says holding onto Lubb’s arm still stepping on him in a crouching position. “That aside, this idiot is Lubbock.” Leone tells Naruto the green haired male’s real name.
Naruto laughs nervously at the introduction. ‘Man, Pervy Sage would really get along with this guy.’ Naruto thinks for a moment before looking at Lubbock’s face. ‘Is he actually enjoying that!?’ Naruto thinks in surprise.
The blonde duo are now walking through the river were they soon see Akame by a fire cooking many of some kind of fish he has never seen before, that’s when Leone speaks. “Nice job catching Chain Pickerel Akame.” Leone says.
Akame nods her before giving a fish to Leone. She then notices Naruto. “It’s you again. Naruto Uzumaki, right?” Akame asks.
“Yeah, but just call me Naruto.” He begins saying. “We are going to be working together, so let’s be friends Akame!” Naruto says reaching out for a handshake. But instead of a handshake Akame reaches out to give him one of the fish she was cooking.
“Eat up too.” Akame begins to say. “You will need to for the future.”
“Thanks.” Naruto says as he accepts the fish and begins eating it. “This is good!” Naruto says enjoying the fish. Soon Akame gets up to head back to the hideout parting with the blonde duo. “Akame isn’t much of a talker.” Naruto says to Leone.
“Yeah, but she really cares about others. Just wait and see.” Leone says and they head back to the hideout after finishing the fish.
About two days later Tatsumi has finished burying his friends and is now getting the tour Leone gave Naruto. During this time Naruto wanders around a bit to familiarize himself with the surrounding forest area. “Enjoying the forest Naruto.” A familiar voice calls out.
Naruto turns to see Jiraiya, Hoheto, and Anko. “Where were you all?” Naruto asked.
“We were getting things ready on our end when your clone basically told us you were investigating something. You’re the one that went ahead of schedule.” Jiraiya says as Naruto laughs nervously rubbing the back of his head.
Hoheto sighs at this. “You should’ve tried to have more contact with us.” He begins to tell Naruto. “We are in an unknown continent, so communication is key.”
“So, this is the friend you mentioned Temujin.” A new female voice makes itself known.
“That’s right.” Temujin’s voice said. Naruto turns to see Temujin again, but this time he has someone with him.
This person is a woman of 5 feet 8 inches with short, silver hair and a light purple left eye. She wears an eye patch over her right eye. She wears a black suit that shows her cleavage. She has a green and black armored right arm. “So, you're the Naruto that Temujin was talking about.” The silver haired woman says.
“That’s me, but who are you?” Naruto asks.
“My name is Najenda. Glad to have you working with us.” The now identified Najenda says reaching out for a handshake which Naruto returns.
“Now that we are all hear let’s talk about how this mission is going to go.” Jiraiya begins speaking. “Naruto you will be working with Night Raid following Najenda’s orders and mission directives. Hoheto you will stay with Naruto in case he gets hurt recklessly. While Anko and I will help the Revolutionary Army in our own way.” Jiraiya tells the group.
“I will also be sticking around Night Raid for a bit as well before returning to the Revolutionary Army.” Temujin says.
“Wait a minute!” Naruto begins saying. “What about continuing my training Pervy Sage!?” Naruto yells, as Najenda raise’s an eyebrow in amusement.
“Naruto.” Jiraiya says in serious mode. “You have already learned quite a bit. Now is the time to put what you know as practical experience. This is YOUR mission Naruto. Therefore, our influence in Night Raid will be minimal. In other words, we will have a more supporting role.” Jiraiya says and as Naruto was about to talk Jiraiya interrupts him. “This is important for you because depending on the results of this mission it will allow you to gain a chance for a field promotion to Chūnin since you missed the exams and everyone in your age group is already Chūnin rank or higher. Besides it’s not like we won’t check up on you from time to time, just be patient. If you feel you need more training refine what you already know, do you understand?”
“Yes.” Naruto says understanding the situation. After that conversation time went by quickly and now, they are in the meeting room. It is there Tatsumi agrees to join Night Raid.
Suddenly a wire sound is heard, as Lubbock looks panicked. “Intruders!” He alerts everyone in the room.
“What are their numbers and locations?” Najenda asks.
“According to the reaction from my barrier, it’s probably eight people! They’ve all infiltrated close to the hideout!” Lubbock announces.
“I must commend them for sniffing this place out. They’re probably mercenaries from outside the Empire.” Najenda says before taking a smoke. “Time for an emergency sortie. Don’t let any of them return alive.” She orders the group and while Tatsumi is confused he soon joined the others. The only ones that stayed behind were Najenda, Jiraiya, Anko, Hoheto, and Temujin. “Are you sure you shouldn’t watch over Naruto?” She asks.
“Mercenaries like that will be no problem for Naruto.” Jiraiya begins saying. “Plus, this will give us a good chance to see how that difference will effect things from this point forward.” He finishes saying to the confusion of Najenda and Temujin.
The scene changes to the others who go in separate directions. Leone and Lubbock went solo, Sheele and Mine became one group, Tatsumi and Bulat became another group, and Naruto and Akame became the last group. “So how are we going to do this Akame?” Naruto asks?
“I will kill them. You watch from a distance for now, there’s something you need to see first.” Akame informs Naruto of the plain in a plain tone.
While Naruto does want to prove himself, he is fully aware that there are still things he doesn’t know about his allies’ abilities. If Akame is telling him that there is something he needs to see, then it must be important. A few moments later they reach a river where Akame is confronting three male enemies while Naruto is hidden in the trees above to watch the confrontation. In a moment Naruto say Akame quickly draw her Katana slashed at the throats of the enemies. Two of them went down immediately while the third one turned trying to attack Akame as a last stand attack, but as Naruto was about to intervene with a Kunai, he has out the last enemy suddenly paused his movement before black markings spread through the guy’s body before going down like his allies.
Naruto then goes done from the tree to talk to Akame as she sheaths her katana. “What happened to that last guy? He looked like he was going to attack you, but he suddenly some black markings appeared and then he went down.” Naruto asks not understanding what happened. From what Naruto already saw Akame could’ve killed all three enemies at once, but instead she left one enemy barely alive before he suddenly went down.
“One slash, certain kill.” Akame says as she begins moving away from the river.
“What do you mean?” Naruto asks as he follows her.
Akame holds up her sheathed katana. “This katana is a Teigu called One-Cut Killer: Murasame.”
“A Teigu?” Naruto says in confusion.
“A Teigu is a powerful object that has special powers and abilities. There are 48 Teigu in existence and there aren’t many people that can wield them.” Akame begins explaining.
“So, the reason that guy went down was because of the ability Murasame has?” Naruto asks.
“That's right.” Akame begins to explain. “The ability of Murasame is to kill a person with a single cut. Once the sword pierces the skin, a poisonous curse spread through the victim's body, killing them within seconds by stopping their heart.”
“Whoa.” Was all Naruto could say as he had seen a few different kinds of weapons and some with special abilities of their own, but he’s never thought a weapon could do something like that. ‘Tenten would have a field day on this continent.’ Naruto thinks remembering that the female member of Guy-Sensei’s team is very fond of weapons.
As Naruto and Akame backtrack they stop to see Tatsumi slash at an enemy with wearing some kind of animal pelt on his head. “I beg of you!” The enemy begins speaking. “Let me go! If I die my village will perish!” When the enemy says this Tatsumi sheaths his sword and is in thought.
“Shit!” Naruto says quickly making two shadow clones and moves forward to help Tatsumi.
The enemy laughs after grabbing his previously dropped sword. “You’re naïve, young boy! I’ll have you die for my clan!!” he says as Tatsumi is in shock.
But before anything can happen a one of Naruto’s clones got Tatsumi out of the way, another clone holds the enemy in place, while the original Naruto slams a Rasengan at the enemy’s torso. As a result, the enemy’s torso got ripped apart, his blood spreading around as the Rasengan goes deeper into his body and easily destroys the enemy’s ribcage and heart easily causing an instant death.
“WHAT THE FUCK!!” Naruto and Tatusmi say at the same time for different reasons.
“That was different.” Naruto and Tatsumi turn to see Akame approaching them as Naruto’s clones disappear. “It seems that you have something going for you as well Naruto. Though you might want to be control your outbursts a bit.” Akame says to Naruto before turning towards Tatsumi. “Don’t waver. You should land the killing blow promptly.” Akame says to Tatsumi.
Naruto nervously laughs not sure what to say next. While Tatsumi is in deep thought about Akame’s words and whatever weird things Naruto did.
At night everyone is having a meal for completing the mission. During this time Najenda is talking to Tatsumi and Naruto. For Tatsumi he got a mixed review for his performance and as a result is going to team up with Akame to help him polish up on his survival skills and is dismissed. “Seems like you did well for your first real fight in this continent Naruto.” Najenda says.
“Yeah.” Naruto says.
“Based on Akame’s report you did quite couple of unique things.” Najenda says.
“Yeah, that’s the Shinobi’s ability to utilize Chakra.” Jiraiya says suddenly appearing out of nowhere with Temujin shortly behind him. “With Chakra we can do many different things.”
“Impressive, it seems Temujin made the right call hiring you all.” Najenda begins to say. “Is it possible for anyone to learn how to use chakra? It can be an asset to help our rate of survival.” Najenda asks.
“I will answer that question in a moment.” Jiraiya says before turning to Naruto. “So, what was the fight like Naruto?” Jiraiya asks.
“Well, it wasn’t really a fight.” Naruto begins explaining. “It was just saving Tatsumi and hitting the enemy with the Rasengan. But something weird happened.”
“Why weird?” Jiraiya asks.
“I already know that the Rasengan is a very powerful Jutsu and that grinds into the opponent, but this time it was different. It was literally grinding into the guy’s chest and destroyed his torso area including his ribcage. This has never happened before, what gives?” Naruto asks after his explanation.
“That seems about right.” Jiraiya says.
“Care to explain further?” Najenda asks with Temujin looking intrigued as well.
Jiraiya starts explaining. “When we arrived on the continent, I had Hoheto use his Byakugan to confirm potential threat levels and the chakra of all people we had encountered here, that includes you and Lubbock who we first met along with Temujin. Because of that I’ve we were able to confirm something very important.” Jiraiya says.
“What did you confirm?” Temujin asks.
“We confirmed that the people of this continent do NOT have a Chakra Pathway System.” Jiraiya says.
“You lost me.” Naruto says not understanding what Jiraiya is saying.
“Let me explain.” Hoheto says now appearing to join the conversation. “The Chakra Pathway System are points within the body that channel Chakra through it. Simply put they serve the same function for Chakra as blood vessels do for blood. Along the chakra pathways, there are 361 nodes called tenketsu that control the flow of chakra like circuit breakers.” Hoheto explains before turning to Naruto. “Members of my clan have a fighting style that can affect the flow of Chakra. I’m sure your familiar with-it Naruto.”
“Right, Neji did that to me when we fought.” Naruto says remembering that fight.
“The reason we can properly use Chakra for Jutsus is because of the Chakra Pathway System. Without it is theorized that Chakra would be either worthless or just have very slight uses to enhance physical abilities or willpower. It’s basically like having no chakra at all.” Hoheto explains.
Jiraiya then turns to Najenda and Temujin. “In other words, we can’t teach you all something you are unable to utilize. So, you can’t harness Chakra.” Jiraiya then turns to Naruto. “This is also the reason why your Rasengan caused so much damage your opponent had no Chakra to counteract the Rasengan’s damage.”
“I see.” Naruto says.
“So that’s why Haido wanted to use the Stone of Gelel. It was meant to be an alternate power source.” Temujin says.
“That’s too bad, oh well.” Najenda says. “Anyway, Naruto you will have your orders tomorrow.
“Got it.” Naruto says.